14 THE QUEENS COURIER • FEBRUARY 18, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Election 2021
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How and when to vote in the Feb. 23 special election
BY CLARISSA SOSIN
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Th e borough is barely coming up for
air aft er the City Council District 24 special
election earlier this week and already
it’s time to think about the next race — the
special election for City Council District 31.
Voters in District 31, which encompasses
Arverne, Brookville, Edgemere,
Far Rockaway, Laurelton, Rosedale and
Springfi eld Gardens, are set to vote over
the next few weeks on who will serve out
the rest of former City Council member
and now Queens Borough President
Donovan Richards’ term on the New York
City Council.
Nine candidates are vying for the seat
which became vacant in December when
Richards became Queens borough president:
Nancy J. Martinez, Selvena N.
Brooks-Powers, LaToya R. Benjamin,
Latanya Collins, Sherwyn A. James,
Nicole S. Lee, Pesach Osina, Shawn Rux
and Manuel Silva.
Th e election will be the city’s second
using ranked-choice voting aft er the city
fi rst tried it out earlier this month in the
special election for City Council District
24 to replace former Councilman Rory
Lancman.
Voters will rank their top fi ve candidates
in order of preference. Th e fi rstchoice
votes will then be tallied and if no
candidate receives more than 50 percent
of the vote, there will be a runoff . Th e candidate
who received the least amount of
fi rst-choice votes will be eliminated, and
the second-choice candidate on the ballots
with the eliminated fi rst choice candidate
will then be counted. Th is will continue
until one candidate has more than
half of the votes.
If this happens in the upcoming special,
it will be the fi rst ranked-choice voting
run off in the city. Th ere was no runoff
in the recent special election because,
according to the unoffi cial preliminary
results, candidate James Gennaro won
nearly 60 percent of the vote in the fi rst
round.
Registered voters in District 31 can vote
in this election by mail with an absentee
ballot or in person during early voting or
on election day.
Absentee ballots needed to be requested
before Tuesday, Feb. 16, according to the
New York City Board of Elections (BOE).
Applications must be postmarked by Feb.
16. Voters can also request absentee ballots
in person up until Monday, Feb. 22,
at a BOE offi ce.
Visit the BOE website for more information
on voting by mail with an absentee
ballot and to fi nd the absentee ballot
application.
Early voting began Saturday, Feb. 13,
and goes until Sunday, Feb. 21. Polling
sites for early voting are diff erent than on
election day. To look up early voting sites,
use the city’s poll fi nder website.
And, if you love going to the polls on
election day, hold tight until Tuesday, Feb.
23, when you can vote in person at your
poll site. To look up election sites, use the
city’s poll fi nder website.
Check out the BOE’s voter guide for
more information and visit QNS.com to
read all about the candidates.
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